The parents of a man accused of killing a local police sergeant pleaded guilty this morning to four of the federal charges against them.
Kathleen and Ray Vance Mathews pleaded guilty to charges that they helped their son hide from police and knowingly gave him firearms after he fled a halfway house in Colorado in February.
The couple are scheduled for sentencing in U.S. District Judge Harry “Sandy” Mattice’s courtroom on Dec. 19. The most severe charge carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
Their son, Jesse Mathews, faces the death penalty in state court for the killing of Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin during an April 2 botched robbery of the U.S. Money Shops on Brainerd Road.
For more see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.
Todd South covers courts, poverty, technology, military and veterans for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper since 2008 and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact ...
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They deserve the maximum and should serve every single minute of it.
The punishment must be severe. It is more than warranted. I'm sure judge Mattice will make sure the scales of justice are properly balanced.
These people are an embarrassment to their community, their country and humankind. Banish them to a hard labor camp and cut-off their OREO supply. That is their hell and they should live it.
Two real winners here. Can we REALLY trust judges to do the right thing and give these two animals maximum time? Time and time again we see criminals turned back out on the street after making a ridiculously low bail. Anytime someone committs a violent crime, they should do serious time WITHOUT any parole. The judicial system is pathetic!
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